NEW DELHI: Family members of prisoners of war (PoWs) believed to be missing since the 1971 war will visit Pakistan next month to verify their presence, Minister of External Affairs Pranab Mukherjee announced in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.

Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf agreed to the suggestion made by India to end ambiguity on the status of 74 "missing'' PoWs during Mr. Mukherjee's visit to Islamabad in January this year, Mr. Mukherjee said in the presence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during question hour.

Flat denial

Although the families firmly believe that their kin are alive, Mr. Mukherjee did not appear to hold much hope. "India has given a list of 74 armed forces personnel suspected to have been taken PoWs during the 1971 war from time to time over a number of years. But Pakistan has flatly denied [their presence] on each occasion and claimed there is not a single PoW in any of its jails. However, Gen. Musharraf agreed to receive a small delegation in April who can visit various Pakistani jails and verify whether their family members are still lodged there,'' he observed.

Families unenthused

The Government's announcement failed to enthuse the families who have waged a long crusade to generate public opinion.

"A similar offer was made earlier and I visited Pakistan in 1983. The Indians we were shown were either smugglers or those who had crossed the border by mistake. Their [Pakistan's] intention has to be sincere otherwise how can we find out whether all the imprisoned Indians have been shown to us,'' observed Damyanti Tambay, wife of Flt. Lt. Tambay, a "PoW of proven presence'' as a Bangladeshi naval officer and an Indian criminal "saw'' him in a Pakistani jail.

Ravinder Kaur, daughter of Subedar Assa Ram, who was born after her father went missing, said she was willing to visit Pakistan provided Gen. Musharraf released the PoWs. Vice-President of the Missing Defence Personnel Relatives' Association M. K. Kaul felt the previous Governments had not been persistent enough on the issue and claimed at least 40 PoWs were "confirmed'' to be alive till 15 years ago.

Charge denied

Mr. Mukherjee rejected Pakistan's charge that the Indian consulates in Afghanistan were behind the unrest in Balochistan. India had told Pakistan that it was heavily involved in construction work in Afghanistan and some consulates were looking at this aspect. "We categorically deny that any Indian agency or consulate is engaged in any other kind of activity.''

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